Chile Avenue in Llolleo, San Antonio

As far as avenues and main streets go, this one can only be called, for want of another word, understated. But if you live in Llolleo, the Avenida de Chile or Chile Avenue, is what you’ve got. While it might not be over exciting to look at, at first glance, it serves its purpose and isn’t, or doesn’t seem to be, overly inundated with traffic for the most part although criss-crossed power cables it has in plenty.

Llolleo, or Llo-lleo, spell it how you will, is a coastal town, not too far from the Chilean capital of Santiago, located at the mouth of the Maipo River. It’s been a go-to resort area for over a hundred years, but its name dates back further and commemorates the traditional local trade which wasn’t tourism, but fishing for shellfish.

Llolleo has, over time, become renowned as being a therapeutic place for those suffering from heart ailments. Whether that’s due to the nutritional effects of the seafood served in the local restaurants, the lack of pollution or previously, the locally revered tree known as the heart tree which has sadly succumbed to a fungus infection and keeled over, who knows. What you won’t want to watch if you have a heart condition is the vehicles crossing over the Avenida de Chile to go up by the side street next to the orange coloured building. It’s not entertainment recommended for anyone with cardiovascular diseases.